Luc Besson is no stranger to action movies but his attempt to adapt a French comic book failed when Valerian was met with tepid reviews and flopped at the box office. It's no wonder then that the filmmaker has some issues with superhero movies which succeed and he's revealed that he's gone from being excited about the genre to being bored with what Marvel and DC bring to the table.
"Totally tired of it," the French director said when the subject of these movies came up. "It was great 10 years ago when we see the first Spider-Man and Iron Man. But now, it’s like number five, six, seven; the superhero is working with another superhero, but it’s not the same family. I’m lost."
Besson then started getting a little more personal when he touched on the political subtext of the genre by taking aim specifically at Captain America and what the fan-favourite superhero represents.
"But what bothers me most is it’s always here to show the supremacy of America and how they are great. I mean, which country in the world would have the guts to call a film ‘Captain Brazil’ or ‘Captain France?’ I mean, no one! We would be like so ashamed and say, ‘No, no, come on, we can’t do that.’ They can. They can call it ‘Captain America,’ and everybody think it normal. I’m not here for propaganda, I’m here to tell a story."
That seems a little harsh, don't you think? Either way, we can now pretty much guarantee that Besson won't be working with Marvel Studios in the near future!